POEMS WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY WALLWEIN AT TIMES [ARE] POWERFUL ENOUGH TO MOVE THE AUDIENCE TO TEARS… THE HORROR THAT SO MANY REFUGEES HAVE GONE THROUGH IN RECENT YEARS IS VIVIDLY BROUGHT TO THE STAGE.

— The Manchester Review on The Island, The Sea, The Volunteer and The Refugee

Poetry

Louise is an accomplished poet first finding acclaim for her one-woman show on the wing of a WW11 Shackleton aircraft.

She has held many residencies in the UK and internationally including Poet in Residence of Queensland and Writer in Residence at the University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada.

Louise was commissioned to write a poem for the opening of the Olympics in the North, performed in Salford Quays and her recent piece The Island, The Sea, The Volunteer and The Refugee was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

DREAMRIDING

Light slips up through the pavement cracksDreamridingI am every thingI can smell everythingTouch anythingIt’s an all or nothing dreamWhen I dream I flyThis city is mineBut not like when I’m awakeIt’s not fakeI dreamI rideI flyI dream I ride in stereophonicQuadraphonicMy bike is bionicSix million dollarWe have the capabilityDreamridingBuzzin I amBuzzinLungs expandAir drifts

BreathI can breathwheels pure titaniumcaught in it lost in itzig zag zag zigmy dreams are so big

Rise

Rise in this city an ocean of colours music and smellsRise from the streets, full of different twist and turnsRise when we clashRise when we stray from our pathRise when we mess upRise and then fix upRise when we get lost in a world full of choicesRise in a forest of mistakesWe raise our youth to know which road to takeRise like the drama we all have in commonWhere once smoke rose now hope risesRise like the Awakening lightRising like a pukka name wished for in the freely shining starsRising like each unique promiseRise like a wish for a better worldRise like a promise plucked from behind a clouds earRise like a nebula of possibilityRise like a boiling hot melting potRise like an outbreak of rainbowsRise when people buzz off of your tunes and rave like there’s no tomorrow